2011 travel trends you didn't hear about
How Aussies like to work early and learn while they holiday and British men don't travel for sport as often as you'd think
The world is catering to Chinese tourists, and "fuel efficiency" is airline execs' go-to buzzword. These are major travel trends we all know about all too well.
But here is a collection of lesser-known travel themes in 2011 that didn’t quite make front page news.
1. Young Indians travel for religion
Temple queues start early, be prepared to wait.
If you feel desperate for a spiritual revival, your first thought may be India. And you wouldn't be alone.
Some 87 percent of Indian travelers have embarked on pilgrimages or traveled for religious reasons, at least once in their lives, with 57 percent saying they do so annually, according to a poll from TripAdvisor.
And it's not just the old. Almost three-quarters of Indians aged between 20 and 30 go on pilgrimages at least once a year.
Many said they would visit a religious destination even if they didn’t belong to the same faith.
According to the survey, the top pilgrimage destination in India was Tirupati while the most mismanaged religious destination was Haridwar.
2. Aussie families prefer education vacations
"This is how to retrace your steps once you get lost."
Exotic cruises and cycling holidays are among the most popular of Australia’s vacations, with travelers going either cheap and cheerful or big and expensive; not much in between.
"When they go on holiday there are big expectations -- people feel they need to be doing more than the beach thing," said Wendy Buckley, managing director of Travel with Kidz.
Carnival Cruise and Royal Caribbean cruises boast attractions such as a water park, climbing walls and zip lines, so mom and dad can be assured that their little tykes are well-entertained while they sip their mojitos.
3. British men (don't) travel for their sports fix
Somehow English football hooligans just aren't the same these days.
We think they got it wrong -- far more interesting is that nine out of 10 therefore claimed they didn't base a holiday on a sporting face-off.
Is the image of a Union-Jacked, sun-burned Brit screaming at his team over a pint of warm beer a thing for the history archives?
Out of the 12 percent who traveled because of sports spectatorship, watching a rugby match was the most popular choice. Another non-surprise in the year of the World Cup.
4. Travelers are tech mad
You'd think having a smartphone equals smart connection.
Never. Ever. Leave your home without your smartphone or iPad. There were 17,000 travel apps buzzing about the market as of February this year, so there's no excuse not to have found one that you need.
Plus there's the CNNGo app, available for free, right here.
According to Ian Carrington, the director of mobile for Google, searches using mobile devices have increased by 4 percent over the past year and now account for 14 percent of Google's traffic.
5. No such thing as 'a business traveler'
Business travelers -- don't put them in a box.
Try and define a business traveler and you'll be left wanting. That was the takeaway message from Accor Asia Pacific Business Travel Research 2011, a report that highlighted the vast differences between business travelers.
Hong Kongers usually burn the midnight oil, with many working between midnight and 6 a.m., while Australians and New Zealanders prefer working 6-9 a.m.
Indian business travelers are the “power users” of hotel gyms, while the most active business travelers were the Chinese, with an average of nearly nine trips taken in the first half of 2011.
